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HB NEWS LABOUR SHORTAGE CONTINUES TO PLAGUE AREA FARMERS MANSOOR TANWEER mtanweer@metroland.com Ithas been a good season from a "retail point of view" for Bob Trenwith, owner of Stonehaven Farms in north Halton. However, he does lament the weather. “The weather has been lousy and has hindered ev- in agriculture,” farmers in across the region — don't stop there. "The biggest hang-up in agriculture right now and in most industries, there's just no labour.” he aid. "With the programs that are out there and whatever has gone through people's minds is that they just de- cided not to go back to work," Trenwith potieves. “Everybody is bling and trying ‘to fndla la- bour, especially agricul- The combination of the unideal weather and lack of labour has created a unique problem. The pumpkins grew too large this year, causing them to need to be hand-picked rather than machine picked. The slower harvest com- ing with physical labour has meant that weeds have "We did get enough weed control done that we were able to harvest the pump- kin crop, said. A July 2021 report by the National Farmers Uni iving- jobs which has led to a scar- city of skilled and experi- enced workers." “After 30 years of free trade agreements, a capital- ist global food system has decreased the market value of i com- modities and ultimately set the wage floor to the lowest id farm workers in the world," the report adds. "Labour has been a chal- lenge for a number of years in agriculture, especiall; the intensive vegetable and fruit operations and green- house operations," Director of the Halton Federation of ture Barb Parker said. "And then COVID has made it worse, a lot worse the last two years," she add- ed. "The TS it would have before done that type of work had the decision or choice to make that they would consider staying home and look after family." Agriculture across Can- ada has been one of the workers held permits in 206 enoreign temporary work a common “Labour has been a challenge for a number of years in agriculture, especially the intensive vegetable and fruit operations and greenhouse operations." ~ Barb Parker, Director of the Halton Federation of Agriculture source of labour in the agri- culture industry. David MacTavish of Hutchinson Farm says that he often hires foreign la- bourers to work his land on the far northern reaches of surlington. have four Mesias ‘iho come up ev- and until sort of end py oclobee And yeah, I could not do this without Bob Trenwith of Stonehaven Farms is among many farmers who's faced labour shortages and weather-related challenges this year. world from people wanting to work here. How many Canadians have applied? Zero." Butit is even tougher for Trenwith of Stonehaven. “The retail part of our business, our farm market, ButIamnot ‘ eh Graham Paine/Metroland penses to a maximum of $250,000. "Customers definitely she Spokesperson for " sobeys, S “ihereve possible, we getting responses for gener- al farm labour," said the Campbellville farmer. food sector that identify and address labour chal- lenges," said spokesperson for the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Christa Roet- tele. Starting Oct. 21, pro- jects that support, promote and attract labour for agri- food businesses will be eli- gible for up to 70 per cent funding of approved ex- Scholtens-Cottage Country and LumberHeads Food Co. STORY BEHIND THE STORY: With a labour shortage gripping the On- tario farming industry, we wanted to explore how local farmers are faring during this uniquely chal- lenging period. MILTON PHOTO ERIN MILLS PHOTO ws GEORGETOWN PHOTO} Milton ng & Pr Still shooting film? Found a disposabie camera or a roll of film laying around? We produce quality prints on long-lasting Fujicolor Crystal Archive photo paper. We are also able to save your negatives onto a DVD or USB, creating a digital backup of your important pictures. On top of this, our professional technicians will apply manual colour and density corrections to each print to ensured the best quality pictures. | Enlargements available up to 50x60. “ Contact us for enlargement pricing. UONEH - dl UL | 6 a Fy AZ a S = g 8 8 8 eordyouy